For some reason, this week all my plans went on pause. We keep having these annoyingly substantial snow storms that require both of our efforts to dig out from and sap our energy for anything new on the creative front. Another one is on its way tomorrow.

I would have hoped that my mid-semester break would have meant a very large addition to my word count, but apparently I work better when I have more on my plate than I think I can handle. Which brings me to the very kewl Niel deGrasse Tyson quote, in the picture above. (I linked it to the essay where the quote originated, because it’s always good to see how smart people think!) Maybe my confusion is the source of my creativity. Maybe not understanding how I write more when I have less time is a good thing.

On the other hand, more time on my hands also meant I was able to take some time to help copy edit a new indie book, we finished the cover to Blood to Fire, I worked out the final revisions to the blurb for Blood to Fire, and I started kicking off the dust for an older novella idea. So it wasn’t all slothfulness–I just didn’t add to any significant word count totals this week.

I also started pondering the old question of what kind of promotions new books deserve. As it happens, we’re now at the beginning of Read an eBook Week, so all three of my stories have coupons available to get up to half off on them. And I’m hoping to add to my published book count this week–just as soon as I incorporate the final edits from my editor. So reading a Forbes article that describes not only the issue (findability and the reliability of online recommendations), but also some potential solutions, has me anticipating a future where the system of tagging and other kinds of sorting Amazon has toyed with in the past might be revived and made more user friendly. And less likely to be gamed by unscrupulous types. I’m crossing my fingers, anyway. What do you think?

Meantime, check out the list of other ROW80 participants to see how they did with their goals.

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One Response to “Snowstorms and Pauses”

I always have the same problem. I keep thinking that when I get time off work, then I’ll get a lot more writing done, and it never works out that way. Also, I find that all the side bits to writing: designing covers, marketing, etc., always take up more time than you think they should, and yet don’t leave you with the same sense of satisfaction as having majorly increased your word count. But, they are necessary all the same. So keep up the good work, and feel free to share any promotion ideas you get. (I’m just self-publishing my first ever ebook this Sunday, so feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.)